Working on the GranTeCan dome

Working on the massive dome shutter of GranTeCan

GranTeCan is the biggest optical telescope in the world, and it’s hard to convey the sheer size of it in a photograph. The telescope itself weighs 485 tonnes. You could fit an tennis court inside the dome, and the top of the dome is 41 m above the ground. But you can’t see any of that in a photograph.

Working on the massive dome shutter of GranTeCan

Luckily for me, the engineers did some maintenance on the massive dome recently. Once you have people in the photograph, you get an idea of the size.

Working on the massive dome shutter of GranTeCan

This article has 1 Comment

Thank you for this wonderful pictures and the GranTeCan is really big.
Your guide on Dec. 28.th, when I was on the Roques de los Muchachos, was fantastic and the visit in the GranTeCan was a special day for me!
Many greetings from cold Germany!